2013 St. George Illawarra Dragons season

2013 St. George Illawarra Dragons
2013 record 7-17
Home record 3-9
Away record 4-8
Points for 379
Points against 530
Team information
Coach Australia Steve Price
Captain Australia Ben Creagh
Ground

WIN Jubilee Oval

WIN Stadium
Top scorers
Tries 9 Daniel Vidot, Jason Nightingale & Brett Morris
Goals 21 Jamie Soward
Points 58 Jamie Soward
 < 2012 2014 > 

The 2013 St. George Illawarra Dragons season was the 15th in the joint venture club's history. Coached by Steve Price and captained by Ben Creagh, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2013 Telstra Premiership. This season was the worst year performance wise since the joint venture was created. They finished only over the top of Wests Tigers & the Parramatta Eels.

The Dragons started the season losing their first 3 games to Melbourne Storm, Brisbane Broncos & Canberra Raiders only to come back and win their next 3 over Cronulla Sharks, Newcastle Knights & Wests Tigers. The Knights win coming at a cost, with the injury of New Zealand international Gerard Beale for the season. Unfortunately for the Dragons those were the only wins they could string together in 2013 losing another 3 to Sydney Roosters, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles & Gold Coast Titans.

Round 10 saw a glimmering light at the end of the tunnel for the Dragons when they signed former Canberra Raiders superstar Josh Dugan. Dugan was seen as the answer to the fullback spot left by the injured Beale. He kicked off his career at the joint venture scoring 2 tries in the team's romp of the Parramatta Eels 32-12 at WIN Stadium.

The next week the Dragons were sent back to earth with a thud as they became the first St. George Dragons / St. George Illawarra Dragons team to be kept to nil at Jubilee Oval as the Penrith Panthers ran in 3 unanswered tries to win 19-0. This was followed by a loss to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs by 2 points. This was the last game for the club's all time leading point scorer Jamie Soward for the Dragons as he was dumped out of the side and two weeks later released to join London Broncos of the European Super League.

Over the month of June the Dragons 3-1 record with only a solitary win of the Newcastle Knights in Newcastle, Josh Dugan again scoring 2 tries.

July started disastrously for the Red V again being kept to nil by the Sydney Roosters, losing 36-0. After this night the Dragons had to win almost every remaining game to stay in the final hunt. Round 17 saw first v 2nd last as the Dragons played the South Sydney Rabbitohs away at ANZ Stadium with the Dragons showing true grit to score twice in 10 mins to bring the game into extra time. Brett Morris getting the winning try in golden point extra time.

However the Dragons then went on a streak that was etched in the club's history books, losing their next 6 games, including the 2 teams below them on the points table, an embarrassing loss to Wests Tigers and the Parramatta Eels. Four of those six games were lost by 4 points or less, including a heart-stopping loss to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks where Sharks player Andrew Fifita scored on the buzzer to win the local derby after trailing the whole game.

In the last game of the year the Red V said goodbye to some legends of the game including Matt Cooper (rugby league), Nathan Fien & Michael Weyman. The 17 on the field, scoring an impressive 19-10 win over the New Zealand Warriors who needed a win to keep their finals hopes alive.

Squad

St. George Illawarra Dragons
Current NRL premiership squad Coaching staff

Head coach

Assistant coaches

  • Steve Folkes - Assistant Coach
  • Paul McGregor - NSW Cup Head Coach
  • Andrew Gray - Performance Director
  • Scott Campbell - Strength & Conditioning Coach
  • Dan Lawson - Physiotherapist
  • Matt Shirvington - Sprint Coach
  • Melanie MacDonald - Sports Science/Dietitian & Nutritionist
  • Rob Leslie - Athletic Development Coach
  • Robert Finch - Operations Manager

Legend:
  • (c) Captain
  • (vc) Vice captain
  • (gk) Goal kicker
  • Injured

Transfers

New Signings

Transfers/leaving

Ladder

Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1 Sydney Roosters (P) 2418062640325+31540
2 South Sydney Rabbitohs 2418062588384+20440
3 Melbourne Storm 2416172589373+21637
4 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2415182588366+22235
5 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24140102468460+832
6 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24130112529463+6630
7 Newcastle Knights 24121112528422+10629
8 North Queensland Cowboys 24120122507431+7628
9 Gold Coast Titans 24110132500518−1826
10 Penrith Panthers 24110132495532−3726
11 New Zealand Warriors 24110132495554−5926
12 Brisbane Broncos 24101132434477−4325
13 Canberra Raiders 24100142434624−19024
14 St. George Illawarra Dragons 2470172379530−15118
15 Wests Tigers 2470172386687−30118
16 Parramatta Eels 2450192326740−41414

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, January 14, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.